Solefald – World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud

Solefald have come a long way from their first full-length “The Linear Scaffold”, an album I personally enjoyed a lot when it came out. After their Scandinavian Folk-inspired “Kosmopolis Nord” of last year, they once again broaden their musical and general artistic spectrum on this their eighth full-length, to bring sounds and vibes from the Cosmopolis of the South.

The album is filled with different kinds of lively energetic music. In terms of beats it mixes Metal-drumming, Ethnic percussions, Electronic Techno and for example Hip Hop together seamlessly. The heavy and groovy Metallic guitars are accompanied by Middle-Eastern strings, Caribbean-sounding melodic percussions or futuristic synths like it’s the most logical thing in the world. Vocal-wise, the elaborate singing and growls and shouts are backed up by majestic male and female choirs and speeches. Cool ambient soundscapes fill the few breathers of the album with awesome atmosphere. The amount of instruments, melodies, and different kinds of vocals on this album is immense, bringing to mind classic bands such as Mr. Bungle in it’s variety, but Solefald manages to sound always like themselves rather than anything else, really. In lack of better words, the whole album is a carnival in honour of the Art of Music!

The quality of the sounds is of such high quality, the Electronic and Ethnic elements melt together beautifully with the warm Metallic grinding heaviness. All the different sounds of the apparently numerous tracks on these recordings sound through the whole spectacle clearly. It would be impossible to pull something like this off without excellent production.

The music of Solefald is definitely for those open-minded folk whom do not fear experimentations and the joys of music in general. There’s no use comparing this to some “older more Metallic Solefald”, since that train passed along time ago, and is currently circling our amazing planet at a very high speed. This album will bring great moments to all into previous albums of Solefald, and creative intelligent and imaginative music in general, for countless trips around the Cosmopolis of the South.